Mono are Martin Virgo and Siobhan Di Mare. Mono is a marriage of opposites where the music combines heady nostalgia with headstrong futurism to create sonic romantic tragedies which would sit as naturally in a Sixties French art film as a James Bond flick. Grooves which would be as happy on the decks at an easy listening soiree as a backroom freestyling breakbeat session. Martin first started working on the concept of Mono a few years ago intending it to be an outlet for the ideas which he was unable to explore in his nine to five life as a session musician and programmer. Not that he was working with any old produce you understand. Indeed, since graduating from music college he has worked alongside some of dance music's legends: Nellee Hooper, Howie B, Frankie Foncett and Femi Williams. Subsequently he's been involved with the production of some classic releases of recent years like Bjork's "Debut" album, Shara Nelson's "Friendly Fire" collection and remixes of the seminal "Safe from Harm" and "Unfinished Symphony" singles by Massive Attack. Indeed it could be said that Martin Virgo has already made a very real and lasting contribution to contemporary dance culture. Siobhan on the other hand comes from what she herself describes as a "Show Biz Background". Her grandfather is the guy who bangs the gong in the Rank trailers film, her grandmother was a Cuban dancer who performed with Shirley Bassey, all of her brothers and sisters are in bands and her dad was the original drummer in The Shadows. Siobhan's musical career started off in the hip hop scene of the eighties. Working as a rapper she achieved small successes which ended up with her working in L.A. on a hard-core rap album with Shello. However Siobhan's heart lay in the more soulful vibes of old motown stuff and swing and inevitably she found herself working as an R&B style backing singer on a lot of dance, house and jungle tracks. And then she met Martin who introduced her to a whole new world of sound.
The original idea for Mono was that the sound would be based on some of Martin's fiercest musical obsessions and nothing else, "Which sounds simple," he says, "but is actually harder than you'd think." Initial demos were recorded largely for fun. "I'd put Parliament breaks under bits of Serge Gainsbourg, just to see what happened," says Martin, "and everything we did seemed to work". "Life In Mono" on The Echo Label was the first introduction to the seductive nature of the Mono sound. "Who knows why it works," says Martin, of he and Siobhan's contrasting personalities. He's almost bookishly reserved and she's as fierce as he is reticent. So do they finish each other's sentences, in the musical sense at least. Martin: "Yes" Siobhan: "No" Martin: "We do have completely different influences..." Siobhan: "...But we seem to end up at the same conclusion." Martin insists Formica Blues simply evolved from the most played records in his collection, meshing past and future contained within clear pop parameters, "It's just about the way that the styles have collided." he says. "I actually probably like more new music than old, I'm quite happy listening to techno all day. I don't romanticise the past at all."